"Morning" Sickness

This so called "morning sickness" is misleading because it implies that it only happens in the morning. This was not the case for me. I was sick 24/7 for about 6 months. My imagination failed me when I was imagining throwing up a couple times in the morning for a month, maybe two at most. I didn't expect the nausea to be as bad as it was without any let up, ever (I tried everything). I didn't imagine weakness and fatigue so bad that I could barely stand up to get out of bed. I didn't imagine choosing what food I ate based on how it would feel (and taste) coming back up 15 minutes later. This was the worst thing about pregnancy (yes, much worse than labor) simply because it lasted so long without any break. During this miserable time, I had mothers who said "Oh, I know what you're going through, I was sick for a few weeks with my baby... but I didn't actually throw up... and it was just in the morning before I ate something" I just wanted to say "Sorry, but then you have no idea what I'm going through!". I was completely useless during this time. I was in bed 24 hours a day with a bucket that I didn't have the energy to empty myself (poor husband). I would have my husband bring me food so I could throw up something instead of bile and water (which really burns and the gag reflex doesn't let up until you throw up something, which takes forever when there's nothing in your stomach). We've all had days where we are sick, but after a few days it usually clears up and you feel "normal" again. Six months of torture just doesn't even fall on the same scale as that. I feel really bad for mothers who have morning sickness as bad as I did and had to do it alone, or had a job (there's absolutely no way I could have worked during this time), or other children that needed taking care of. Medals and awards should be provided to them.

The only thing that seemed to help very slightly was a sleep aid called Unisom (doxylamine). I also didn't mind that it made me tired and sleepy because I couldn't get out of bed anyway. The more I was unconscious, the better, in my case. Sometimes I could even keep food down if I took the pill right before I ate and then fell asleep right away after eating. My body started rejecting the medicine after a while though. I started getting the urge to throw up as I was taking the pill, then eventually all I had to do was think about taking the pill and I'd start gagging.

Zofran also helped slightly with the nausea, but created other side effects I couldn't tolerate, so I would only take it if I had to be in the car or didn't have the option of throwing up, if I had to.